


(ultra) magic power

by enriant (enpleurs)



Category: VIXX
Genre: M/M, genderswap is an involutory function, how does one stand in front of cha hakyeon and not dissolve into pink goo, magic shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-03 10:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15817350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enpleurs/pseuds/enriant
Summary: A new witch moves into town and sets up shop right across from Taekwoon, and the first thing he notices absolutely isn't that they're debilitatingly pretty.





	(ultra) magic power

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neverwhere (nekrateholic)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekrateholic/gifts).
  * Inspired by [tealights in the dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13266348) by [neverwhere (nekrateholic)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekrateholic/pseuds/neverwhere). 



> thank you for letting me play in your sandboxes - i've always wanted to write a magic shop au! i had fun writing, i hope you can have some fun reading this little thing :)
> 
>  but this is really just 18k of hakyeon turning taekwoon into metaphorical pink goo. relatable.

 

 

  
The first Taekwoon knew about the _competition_ across the street was when he spied a young man nailing a hand painted wooden sign above the door. He immediately felt betrayed, because he'd been hoping for a cafe or a bakery or a chocolatier to move in to the empty building he stared at every day when was leaning against the counter and spacing out. What was magic good for if he couldn't will a cafe into existence?

"That is not what magic is good for," Wonsik said with a beleaguered stare. Taekwoon immediately regretted whining about it to Wonsik, because Wonsik was being altogether unsympathetic, even though they joint owned the shop and the _competition_ affected him too.

"It's not competition," Wonsik said when Taekwoon presented this particular grievance to him just enough times. "If a coffee shop and a bakery opened next to each other you'd be over the moon."

"It's not the same," Taekwoon said. "You can't _eat_ magic."

Wonsik looked pointedly at the dragon tails Taekwoon was grinding into a far too fine powder.

"It's not the same," Taekwoon repeated, ignoring his simmering potions. Wonsik sighed and disappeared into the front room. Taekwoon took this as a victory.

 

\---

 

He'll never tell Wonsik that his real immediate response was to note that the new witch in town was debilitatingly pretty—handsome— _and competition_. 

 

\---

 

Winter was always a busy season for him because everyone's immune system simultaneously and spontaneously disappeared. The spellwork and charming had always been more of Wonsik's thing, but potions and concoctions was where Taekwoon always shone. Which meant that every winter found Taekwoon pulling late nights and early mornings in the quiet of the backroom while Wonsik manned the storefront.

This year was no different and he was in the middle of mixing up a batch of your standard sleeping potions when Wonsik called for him from the front. Multiple times, even though Taekwoon had given him strict instructions he was to be left alone.

"What? I told you not to—"

Taekwoon immediately shut his mouth and glowered because Wonsik had let the _competition_ in. At this distance, Taekwoon could assess the competition more closely. He was wearing a thick wool coat, had tan skin, and a smile more dazzling than anyone's smile had a right to be. A red scarf hung loosely around his neck, and he held a pair of leather gloves in one hand. The other was holding a wicker basket, the traditional sort, and Taekwoon could see the weight of it without touching it. He remembered how heavy those things were—his mother had been a stickler for the old ways at the most inconvenient of times. 

"I'm Hakyeon," the competition said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled even _wider_ , but not in the creepy serial killer way. He stuffed his glove into his pocket and stuck out his hand. Taekwoon reluctantly shook it. The competition—Hakyeon's—hand was warm and smooth and not at all cold or damp.

Hakyeon waved at the shelves and shelves of little labelled bottles. "Wonsik was telling me about you. He said you're the one responsible for all this."

"Yes," Taekwoon said warily. He sent Wonsik a look and Wonsik had better hope for his own sake that that was all he'd told the competition. Wonsik looked suitably cowed. 

"That's right! I almost forgot—I brought a little something for you." Hakyeon held out the basket for Taekwoon to take. It was as heavy as it looked, and unless Hakyeon had super-human strength, he doubted that Hakyeon could've forgotten he'd been holding it.

"Hakyeon's just moved in across the street," Wonsik said like Taekwoon didn't know. 

"I specialise in warding candles, but I do candles of all kinds," Hakyeon explained while Taekwoon set the basket on the counter. There were three of them in there, labelled with little paper tags tied around them with ribbon, each a different size, shape, and colour. They smelled nice, and like cookies. Taekwoon took them out one by one and frowned—none of them smelled like cookies. The culprit was easy to find; a covered dish at the very bottom. He took it out and frowned harder.

Hakyeon was beaming at him. Wonsik was giving him a Look.

"Thank you," Taekwoon said. He couldn't summon up anything other than neutral flatness or get it out of a barely there monotone, but it didn't seem to deter Hakyeon's smile. 

"Thanks," Wonsik echoed, far more appreciatively. He gestured at the cookie plate. "We'll bring this back soon. Sooner, probably." He knew that Wonsik was talking about him, and for some reason that just made him scowl harder.

He zoned out while Wonsik and Hakyeon make small talk, still staring at Hakyeon's face. His voice was very different from Wonsik's, sweeter where Wonsik was deep and gruff. It matched his face. At one point Hakyeon mentioned that the cookies were freshly baked. Worth noting. Even if they might be poisoned.

Taekwoon had enough experience with customers that he could send Hakyeon out the door on autopilot without looking entirely miserable. But as soon as the door closed, he whirled on his heel and stalked towards the back room. He glared at Wonsik as he passed, muttering a quick spell under his breath. Wonsik yelped and stumbled backward at the illusionary spider suddenly dangling in front of his face.

"Oh c'mon, you gotta be polite," Wonsik said, once he'd regained some composure. "And hey, he's really nice. Unlike some people."

"Fraternising with the enemy," Taekwoon retorted. He was most of the way to the door but the call of the cookies was too strong, and he couldn't help but backtrack to snag a few. Wonsik looked like he wanted to say something. Taekwoon pulled a face at him. "If they're poisoned it's your fault."

He walked away and slammed the door shut before Wonsik even had time to open his mouth to retort. A second later Wonsik was calling for him again and Taekwoon briefly contemplated sticking a chair under the door knob. But he didn't, and Wonsik walked in looking generally irritated. It lasted less than a second, because that was the sort of person Wonsik was—and it was equally difficult to be upset at Wonsik for long.

"It won't be your fault," Taekwoon offered in apology around a mouthful of cookie. 

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Wonsik said dryly. "But the note you left?"

Taekwoon blinked at him once before he remembered what Wonsik was talking about. It was almost lunch time and Taekwoon had scrawled that note as soon as he'd gotten in, an unconscionable number of hours ago. He nodded.

"I ran into Han Sanghyuk's mother today," Taekwoon said. "I thought you could check on him, maybe, since." He gestured with his hand vaguely. She was a nice lady, and her son had some magical inclinations, so Taekwoon would sometimes stop to chat with her if they were both getting coffee at the same time. 

"Did something happen?" Wonsik's face had scrunched up in concern, brows furrowed deeply.

Taekwoon sort of shrugged. "He's a kid," he said as if that answered everything. To Wonsik, it did. Sometimes kids just needed checking up on.

"You can go now," Taekwoon tacked on quickly. He still hadn't quite forgiven Wonsik for letting in the competition.

The cookies were gone by the morning, anyway.

 

\---

 

Witches weren't supposed to get sick, but Taekwoon had always had a tendency to do things he wasn't supposed to do and one of those things was to get a little sniffly in the winter.

"Again? It's not even December." Jaehwan flicked his tail. The pale gold cat, almost silver, was perched on the headboard of Taekwoon's bed, looking far more amused than a cat familiar should be allowed to. 

"Shut up," Taekwoon said. His head hurt. "Go make yourself useful."

"It's more fun watching you suffer," Jaehwan said. He licked his paw as he said that, as if making a point. Taekwoon hated him. 

"I'll make you," he grumbled. He could, too, but he'd rather not because he was a little sniffly. Which was absurd, for a witch. 

"You're no fun," Jaehwan said. He jumped to the floor and landed silently, not even the bell on his red collar making a sound. His tail swished as he stalked out. 

Taekwoon dozed off, warm in his blankets. He needed to get up. There was too much to do. But his bed was so _warm_. And it was winter. It was cold. He hated being cold.

"This is immensely unfair." Jaehwan was standing on Taekwoon's pillow, close enough that Taekwoon could see the light dancing in his blue eyes. "Familiar exploitation. Of course the witch goes back to sleep while I do all the work."

"That's what familiars are for," Taekwoon said. He said a mournful goodbye to the warmth of his blankets and worked himself upright, cursing his own weak immune system. He was a _witch_ , it was immensely unfair. His room spun a little, and Taekwoon already knew that today was going to be miserable. Thankfully, Jaehwan handed over the bottle he'd been holding with his tail without another gripe. Taekwoon downed it, grimaced at the taste, and scratched Jaehwan under the collar.

"This—mmm—better not be—yeah, there—all the thanks I get," Jaehwan said in between pleased meows and purrs. 

"For doing your job?" Taekwoon was already feeling better, the room coming into focus. One of the perks of being a witch—magic interacted far more quickly. He still didn't want to get out of bed. 

"Humans get paid, I don't," Jaehwan said. He hopped off, giving Taekwoon room to swing himself out of bed. It was cold even in his fleece pyjamas and Taekwoon shivered. He cast a quick warding spell around himself as he got dressed. Jaehwan turned away, cat butt and swishing tail facing Taekwoon.

Taekwoon's apartment was on the sparse side. He'd never had much of an urge to decorate, but there was a fireplace and a couch that was more of a nest of blankets than anything else. He muttered a sleepy fire into existence. There was one last chunk of raw chicken left in the fridge that he tossed to Jaehwan, and went about making coffee. He was in dire need of groceries because that had been the last thing in the fridge. Jaehwan might not need to eat, but Taekwoon certainly did.

His head was still a little foggy, and he blinked down at Jaehwan when the cat brushed against his ankles and meowed. 

"I could tell Wonsik you're sick, y'know," Jaehwan said. "Don't be a hero and all that."

"No," Taekwoon said stubbornly, watching the water boil. He could magic it, but coffee tasted better with slow boiled water. "I can't. We have competition."

Competition.

An image of Hakyeon's smiley face drifted through his fuzzy mind. Taekwoon blinked it furiously away. 

"The competition is spying on us. We can't show any weakness."

It'd been two weeks since Hakyeon had set up shop across the street, and he'd visited Taekwoon's store more than once. He'd been so pleased that they'd set up the candles around the shop that he'd brought another ten, free of charge.

"Free advertising for me," he'd said. His smile had been sweet and full of mischief all at once, and Taekwoon had gotten the distinct sense that Wonsik had fallen into Hakyeon's evil, honey clutches. That hadn't stopped Taekwoon from bringing two home, bright and citrusy. 

There had been one time he'd come for business. "I work with a human," Hakyeon had explained as he'd picked out a recovery draught and another two calming draughts, although Taekwoon still wasn't convinced that Hakyeon wasn't planning on reverse-engineering them once he was home. Wonsik had been out to make a few house calls, leaving Taekwoon to handle customers, customers like Hakyeon.

"Wait," Taekwoon had said, halfway through wrapping up Hakyeon's purchase. He'd darted into the backroom leaving behind a somewhat bemused Hakyeon and come back with a little brown glass bottle with a plastic cap, much more plain than anything they sold.

"A… thank you gift. It's better. For the human," Taekwoon said, voice dropping to an unintentional mumble. He'd dumped it into the bag with the other three and shoved it towards Hakyeon. Hakyeon had still paid for those. 

"Hello? Universe to Taekwoon? Sure you don't want me to get Wonsik?" Jaehwan had the audacity to _dig his claws_ into Taekwoon's foot. He jumped easily away when Taekwoon kicked at him.

"We have _competition_ ," Taekwoon repeated. 

"Oh. Like, the competition that bakes you cookies and gives you candles?" Jaehwan asked, skeptical. 

"He's spying," Taekwoon said. The water had boiled, and he settled with a french press brew. What he really wanted was a pour-over, but he didn't trust himself to make it right now, and he certainly didn't trust Jaehwan. Jaehwan made coffee like a three year old human, messy and no finesse. 

"I'm sure he is," Jaehwan said. He didn't sound like he believed him. Taekwoon didn't care.

 

\---

 

He made it most of the way to the store when he was accosted in the middle of the street. Taekwoon most definitely did _not_ shriek, but he had no problems admitting that he'd zapped his assailant. 

"You would do that to a _human_?" Hakyeon still hadn't let go of his warding spell. Taekwoon's own spell had been so weak it hadn't so much bounced off the shield, as it had pathetically squelched down. 

"If they touch me," Taekwoon said. 

Hakyeon, to Taekwoon's surprise, looked… not smiling. He looked almost sorry. Chastised. 

"Oh," Hakyeon said softly. "I forgot myself. Forgive me? I really am sorry, I'll make it up to you, promise—wait, are you _sick_?"

"I am not sick," Taekwoon stated.

"Oh no, you can't trick me, you _are_ sick. I live with a human, I know what being sick looks like. And you're standing around in the cold?"

"Your fault," Taekwoon said. Hakyeon bit at his lip, because it was true.

Still, there was something unescapable about Hakyeon as he hurried Taekwoon into his own store like an overbearing mother.

"Taekwoon is sick," Hakyeon declared to a wide-eyed Wonsik.

"Oh no, _again_?" 

"You mean he's been sick before?" Hakyeon asked.

"I am not sick," Taekwoon grumbled. He looked pleadingly at Wonsik to back him up. The corner of Wonsik's mouth twitched, as if he was on the fence about being a loyal friend or a horrible traitor.

His sense of self-perseverance won out in the end. 

"He's just a bit… sniffly," Wonsik said. He looked at Taekwoon gingerly. "He'll be fine."

"Hm." Hakyeon didn't look convinced but he had his own shop to run, and couldn't badger Taekwoon any further. 

Taekwoon spent the day in the back with a never-ending mug of tea courtesy of Wonsik, and a candle that had been labelled _healing_ in neat cursive. He even ignored Wonsik when he called for him—it was a lot harder to ignore a stranger coming in, all the wards jangling unhappily. The stranger was followed in by Wonsik who hastily held up a hand to ward off Taekwoon's ire.

"Hey Taekwoon, I, uh, know this is off-limits, but this is Hongbin. He works with Hakyeon?"

Taekwoon squinted at the stranger. He was tall enough, sharp jawline, although Taekwoon couldn't quite see why Wonsik looked like he was already absolutely whipped, and was bringing him _into Taekwoon's workspace_. Maybe Hakyeon had sent Hongbin over with a charm to seduce Wonsik, because Hongbin himself certainly couldn't have— this had to be the human Hakyeon had spoken of.

"So?" Taekwoon knew he sounded grouchy. Well, he felt it. 

"So you're Taekwoon," Hongbin said. His voice was deeper than Taekwoon would have expected for someone with a face like his. But then again, people often said that about him too. 

"This room is employees only," Taekwoon said flatly. He briefly considered cursing Wonsik, but his head was still a little foggy and the traitor would pick up on it before Taekwoon had even half finished.

"Hakyeon would throw a fit if I went back without giving you this, so just take it for all our sakes," Hongbin said. He held out one of those insulating kids lunch bags only supersized at arms-length toward Taekwoon without taking another step forward. Taekwoon didn't move from his seat.

"Employees only," Taekwoon repeated. He narrowed his eyes, but Hongbin didn't budge. 

"Ugh."

Taekwoon got the distinct sense of Hongbin rolling his eyes without Hongbin actually doing so. Taekwoon maintained his glare. Or tried, at least. It didn't seem to be doing much good.

"Hakyeon said you could be stubborn but he's the one who stunk up the whole shop with his cooking," Hongbin grumbled. Taekwoon thought about retorting but there wasn't much point. Silence was as powerful a weapon as words. Unless it was against Hakyeon—a thought he quickly banished even as it appeared out of thin air like an illusion.

Taekwoon folded his arms over his chest and crossed one leg over the other, still staring at the stranger. To his credit, he didn't flinch in the slightest. 

"Just a little," Wonsik agreed with a low chuckle. Traitor.

"Jeez, _fine_. This isn't worth my time anyway." Hongbin dropped the bag in front of Taekwoon; the soft thump betrayed the weight.

Despite himself, Taekwoon unzipped the top and reached in to pull out a large thermos, a smaller thermos, a container of rice, a box of cookies, and another two candles. Taekwoon's eyebrows rose. The bag was clearly bigger than it looked.

"Said something about how it didn't seem like you'd eaten. Soup. Tea. Freshly procured. Not magical, though. But the candles are. Place them by your bed tonight and you'll be less… _sniffly_. And, uh, take some of your own medicine because it works," Hongbin rattled off, appropriately annoyed. The corner of his mouth quirked. "I'd know."

"I'm glad," Taekwoon said before he could stop himself. 

"Your own medicine?" Wonsik echoed in confusion.

"Yeah, he gave Hakyeon this foul tasting stuff when Hakyeon came to get some things for me when I was _sniffly_ ," Hongbin said. 

"Huh. I didn't know that."

"You were out," Taekwoon said to Wonsik. He turned to Hongbin, not quite able to keep up the glaring. "You can tell Hakyeon you safely delivered it."

Hongbin might not have been a witch, but he was certainly good at projecting things like throwing his hands up in frustration without actually, physically, doing so. 

"Great. Demoted from delivery boy to messenger boy. I really don't see what he sees in you." Hongbin shook his head and turned on his heel.

"I'll walk you out," Wonsik said, hurrying after Hongbin. He shot Taekwoon a look over his shoulder, the one that usually accompanied a lecture about how Taekwoon was being childish again. 

In the meantime, while Wonsik was chatting with Hakyeon's delivery boy still _inside_ the shop, Taekwoon absentmindedly cleared the table with one arm and slowly put everything on the corner of space one by one. His teachers would've been furious with him, putting food next to potions, but they weren't here so he could do whatever he wanted.

The candles were candles and were pushed over with the rest of the non-edibles. With a great deal of self-restraint, Taekwoon moved the cookies over as well. The moment he unscrewed the thermos, the clean smell of ginger and chicken took over his backroom. Hakyeon had thoughtfully included utensils at the bottom of the bag—

"Glad to see you haven't lost your appetite," Wonsik said.

Taekwoon's head popped up, head snapping to the side to peer over his shoulder.

Wonsik quirked his eyebrows, his lips pursed in a smothered laugh. He walked over to Taekwoon, looking down at the half-empty containers.

"It's good," Taekwoon protested. 

"Mind if I have one?" Wonsik reached for the cookies.

He thought of shaking his head and refusing simply because he _could_ and Wonsik had broken the cardinal rule of bringing a stranger into Taekwoon's room, but if he hadn't, Taekwoon wouldn't be eating, and the cookies wouldn't exist at all. And, Taekwoon admitted privately to himself, it was technically Wonsik's room too.

He shrugged, gesturing toward it. Wonsik sighed because he had to reach halfway across the table to get it, but that was Wonsik's problem, not his. Taekwoon's eyes twinkled in amusement as he stuffed food into his mouth.

"So. Hakyeon."

"Whaf afouft fhim?" 

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Wonsik looked faintly disgusted. 

Taekwoon rolled his eyes but swallowed. "What about him?" he repeated.

Wonsik shrugged, but he was looking at Taekwoon in the way that usually meant he thought Taekwoon had done something wrong. 

"I dunno, he's known you for all of two weeks but he's cooking for you in the middle of the work day, y'know? Kinda feel like you should go thank him and all."

"It's not like I asked him to," Taekwoon said. 

Wonsik sighed. "That's not how this works," Wonsik said, like he was explaining the concept to a kindergartener. "But I gotta ask, did you really give him some of your special stuff for _free_?"

"Did Hongbin tell you?"

If Taekwoon could see himself, even he would've agreed that he looked like a pouty kindergartener even if he would've refused to admit that he was acting like one.

"He kinda told both of us," Wonsik reminded him. "But yeah, he did. Said it got him right back on his feet, never had something that worked that well."

"Of course it did," Taekwoon said. "But I don't _need_ it."

"I'm not gonna argue with you," Wonsik muttered. "Hang on, I got side tracked. You gotta admit he's nice. Really nice. Even—even _if_ he was competition, which he's not."

"You're just trying to get me to say that he's nice," Taekwoon said, squinting at Wonsik suspiciously. He hadn't stopped eating this entire time, and somehow, he'd run out of food. He picked at the last few grains of rice.

"Well?"

"Fine. He's not as bad as I thought he would be," Taekwoon said.

"Oh c'mon. We both know you've always liked him," Wonsik said.

"I do not, did not, I do _not_ like him!" Taekwoon spluttered as he tried to get his words into order. Wonsik looked at him with an expression of utter bemusement—this hadn't been what he'd expected.

"Wow," Wonsik said, faintly shell shocked. "Okay. So there's people that Jung Taekwoon likes too. Hakyeon really is something."

"He's just. Nice. And bakes cookies. And makes nice candles."

"Can't deny that," Wonsik said. He clapped Taekwoon on the shoulder, and fished another cookie out of the box as he stood.

"I'll let you get back to work," he said, leaving Taekwoon to puzzle through some very perplexing conversations, as well as a mostly full box of cookies and a thermos of calming yet energising tea.

 

\---

 

"Welcome—Oh! Taekwoon!"

This was the first time Taekwoon had walked under the sign inscribed with _Little Shop of Wonders_ in what Taekwoon assumed was Hakyeon's own hand, with two small candles painted on either side and a little flame decorating the ' _i_ '. An incredible olfactory mix greeted Taekwoon the moment he'd walked in, but oddly enough, it wasn't overwhelming. He felt the faint scent of magic with a sense of it being _everywhere_ , no matter where he moved. 

Hakyeon did indeed specialise in candles, but there was a little bit of everything in his store. From warding charms to silencing spells to little bouncy balls that emitted sparks every time they hit the floor—as was being demonstrated by a very excited child to his mother. The candles themselves were beautiful and imaginative, colourful and delightful. The candles that Hakyeon had brought him were elegant and understated, but here was one in glistening navy filled with floating gold stars, and here was another that looked like the sunset over an ocean with delicate flickering colours. It made his and Wonsik's shop look like a… a post office. Something small, and boring, and selling only the most basic envelopes and packing tape, except they sold only charms and potions. _Competition_ a part of his brain hissed. Taekwoon tamped it down, because he was here to be _nice_.

"Are you feeling better? Wonsik said that you'd left early—"

"I am," Taekwoon said, cutting Hakyeon off. He held out the pale green paper gift-bag—the only thing he could find in his apartment in short notice, his sister had probably given him something in it years ago—and waited for Hakyeon to take it. 

"This is…?"

"Cookies," Taekwoon said. He tried not to mumble too much. "I felt better last night, and got groceries."

He'd never thought of his store as 'run-down', but now, looking around him (and anywhere but Hakyeon pulling the stuffed plastic container out of the bag) the word crossed his mind. It was charming and rustic, Wonsik had always insisted, but then again, Wonsik had been the one to more-or-less inherit the shop with all its rustic, wooden charm. This place was sleek and colourful and meticulously clean shelves in impeccable order. It wasn't any bigger, but it didn't feel crowded or cramped, just… pleasant. It felt like it belonged in some high-class city, not their population twenty thousand country-club like city.

"You shouldn't have pushed yourself," Hakyeon scolded, reminding Taekwoon very suddenly of one of his elementary school teachers. 

"Wonsik made me go home early," Taekwoon said. 

Hakyeon looked like he was about to say something, but glanced behind him instead. Taekwoon followed his eyes to the back of the shop. There was a huge glass cabinet that lined the back, with some of the most intricate, colourful, and delicate looking candles that Taekwoon had ever seen. He was fairly sure that some of them were _held together_ by magic. 

"I'm about to close up," Hakyeon said, turning back to Taekwoon. "I'll get Hongbin to—if you have time?"

"If I have time…?"

"Ah, well, Wonsik said you had a fondness for coffee, and I know this place—if you have time, I thought I could take you, since—" Hakyeon cut himself off with a shake of his hand. "Hongbin!"

"Yeah?"

The back door opened and Hongbin's head popped out. His expression changed when he saw Taekwoon, although he couldn't discern if it was a good change or a bad one. He was leaning towards bad.

"Close up here, I'll see you at home, don't burn the place down and order delivery," Hakyeon said. He clucked his tongue at Hongbin's exaggerated dismay and snipe that he was a better cook than Hakyeon anyway.

"You live together?" Taekwoon couldn't help his own curiosity. 

Hakyeon nodded, grabbing his coat and scarf off a coat hanger that Taekwoon hadn't even noticed, leading them out the door. Taekwoon shot a longing look at the 'CLOSED' sign on the door of his own store, wondering if Wonsik had magically returned there. 

Hakyeon was dressed the same way as when Taekwoon first saw him properly, with the same grey coat, red scarf, and leather gloves, the green paper bag in one hand, instead of a wicker basket. He was still— _objectively_ —beautiful, which Taekwoon was finding hard to ignore when they were standing this close to each other. 

"Moving here was half his idea," Hakyeon said as they walked. "Although he'll never admit it, so don't believe him when he said that I forced him to. He said his friend knew a vacant building and we didn't realise until after we'd made the decision that it was across the street from, well, your shop. Oh, you _do_ have time, don't you?"

Taekwoon gestured vaguely behind them at where they'd come from. "We're closed," he said.

"Yes, but you don't have anyone waiting for you do you? Wife, girlfriend—"

" _No_ ," Taekwoon managed, somewhere between spluttering. _Wife!?_ He suspected he looked as horrified as he felt. "Just a familiar."

"Oh good." Hakyeon placed his hand on his chest in apparent relief. "I guess I got a bit carried away, but you do look like you're feeling better and I thought you might like this place."

Taekwoon didn't recognise where they could be heading to, and he'd canvassed the area for every possible eating establishment soon after he'd moved here. For research.

"Where?" Taekwoon asked.

"Just down here." Hakyeon gestured to a small laneway that Taekwoon had somehow never noticed before. He squinted down it, doubting that any shop located in a place like that could ever attract business.

"It's a word-of-mouth thing," Hakyeon said, rightly interpreting Taekwoon's doubt. "Come on."

He had no choice but to follow Hakyeon down the narrow lane, now that they'd come this far. He was just starting to wonder if Hakyeon had brought him here because he was secretly a smiling serial killer when they stopped in front of a door with a simple wooden sign. It was turned to 'open'.

Taekwoon was a creature of habit. He liked going to the same coffee stores, the same grocery stores, ordering take-out from the same place, and just generally didn't make it a habit to go to unfamiliar places very often. This was the second such place in the same day—same hour—and it was _loud_. There was no sign from outside that this was a bustling little restaurant type place.

"You said we were going to a cafe," Taekwoon said accusatorily. The words were no sooner out of his mouth than he realised that no, Hakyeon had not said that at all.

"They do have good coffee," Hakyeon said. He spotted someone and waved his hand. "Wongeun!" 

A handsome young man who'd just finished tying on an apron came over as soon as Hakyeon called.

"Back already?" he asked, smiling in a way that reminded Taekwoon of a dog wagging its tail.

"Taekwoon, this is Wongeun, he can tell you I have natural talent for cooking. Wongeun, this is Taekwoon who I was telling you about."

"Ah, you're the one who doesn't like him very much," Wongeun said to Taekwoon's horror and confusion, grin full of mischief. "That's alright, you're in good company."

" _Wongeun_ ," Hakyeon hissed.

"I…?" Taekwoon felt pressured to respond, but also found himself wordless.

"Table for two?" Wongeun asked, ignoring Hakyeon.

"Are we having dinner?" Taekwoon asked.

"I hope so," Wongeun said. "It'd be a shame if you weren't."

"Wongeun owns this place," Hakyeon said, glaring at the person in question. Wongeun's smile didn't falter. He reminded Taekwoon somewhat of a small puppy, even though he wasn't very small at all.

"He said you had good coffee," Taekwoon said as soon as they'd been sat down at a small cozy table in the corner, more suitable for one person than two, Taekwoon felt.

"Oh? You mean he admitted it?"

"Wongeun, please bring us a menu," Hakyeon said very sweetly; Taekwoon was quickly realising there was something more dangerous under all that cheerful smiling. 

"You know we don't have a menu," Wongeun said. He pointed at a blackboard hung on a wall, a list of options scrawled in a few lines in multi-coloured chalk. 

Taekwoon went for safety and opted for a pasta and Hakyeon, unexpectedly, followed suit. 

"Everything is good," Hakyeon said with an easy gesture. He propped his chin on his wrist, leaning forward and staring at Taekwoon with enough scrutiny that Taekwoon felt like squirming. He didn't like it. Usually that happened to other people when he stared at them. 

"Why are we here?" Taekwoon asked. 

Hakyeon laughed one of those small half-laughs. "I thought I should make it up to you," Hakyeon said.

"Make it up to me?"

"Mmhmm. We got off a little on the wrong foot. I was hoping we could at least be friends, but that would be difficult since you didn't like me very much."

Taekwoon just _stared_. There was a protest that died before it even made it to his tongue or his lips. Somewhere in his spinal cord. Just poof. Gone. 

"Oh, but I could be wrong—I don't think I am, Wonsik admitted it too when I asked him."

This was where he could admit that yes, he _hated_ Hakyeon and his stupid shop and his stupid sign, or that he could (truthfully) admit that he'd never _not_ liked Hakyeon, he just hadn't _liked_ Hakyeon, and certainly hadn't found him very pretty—that last thought was cut off, judge banging gavel, jury please disregard. His thoughts were all twisted into knots. But he was good at keeping quiet. Usually it made the other person uncomfortable enough that they either walked away, or started bumbling nervously to fill the silence and then walking away.

Hakyeon, however, was happy to very comfortably fill the silence. 

"There is one more thing," Hakyeon said. Taekwoon wasn't always too aware of his expressions, but in this moment, he was fairly aware of his face doing some scrunching in confusion. How he wished that Wonsik wasn't utterly correct when he said that Taekwoon had no poker face. Taekwoon, however, wasn't too keen to keep playing parrot.

"I wouldn't be very happy either if someone set up a magic shop across from me, but I don't know why you would ever worry, your shop is so _cute_ —"

"It is?" Taekwoon couldn't stop himself from blurting out.

"Of course it is, you can't fake that sort of charm," Hakyeon said, and his smile was so soft and comforting that Taekwoon had to believe it. 

"Why the…" Taekwoon waved his hands a little awkwardly. "The cookies, and… everything else?"

"My mother always taught me to be polite when moving," Hakyeon said—leaving Taekwoon abruptly aware that he had been far less than polite, and _his_ mother would've been horrified by his behaviour.

"Also, cookies are about the only thing I can make." Hakyeon laughed a little awkwardly. "Hongbin can attest to that."

"But, yesterday—"

"And chicken-ginger soup, I suppose," Hakyeon said. "A useful skill when you have so many humans in your life."

Taekwoon felt his eyebrows rise. As a rule, witches and humans didn't mix too much. Humans were happy to conduct transactions and found witches useful when it came to things like the charms and potions that he and Wonsik sold, or protective and warding that Hakyeon did. There wasn't a person who _wouldn't_ want to recover more quickly from a cold, to heal a broken bone, and illusionary pranks were always popular among the younger generation. But there were always those less scrupulous—witch or human—who sought to use magic for harm. Reputations were hard things to shake; reputations that had lasted hundreds, maybe thousands, of years even more so. Now, though, it was simply the way things were, no hard feelings or animosity from either side. 

"Yes, I know," Hakyeon said with the air of someone weary of reactions like Taekwoon's. "What can I say, I'm very charming."

"Charming, as in…"

"No, of course not, what sort of person do you think I am?" Hakyeon said, affronted. Taekwoon immediately poked at his glass of water, suitably chastised. 

A server appeared—as if by magic, Taekwoon abruptly thought—somehow making two large dishes of pasta and a cup of coffee fit onto their far too small table. Hakyeon exchanged pleasantries with them, clearly familiar and maybe even friends. Honestly, Taekwoon was starting to suspect it was impossible to tell the difference. 

"Well, dig in—or, ok." Hakyeon blinked, watching Taekwoon _devour_ his food, like he hadn't eaten in days. He was faintly aware of Hakyeon staring at him, but Hakyeon hadn't been lying when he'd said it was good. It was on par with his dad's cooking, and that was saying something. In his somewhat weak defence, being sick always took a lot out of him, and he had been...sniffly...until he'd gone to bed. Not that he needed a defence for eating. He liked eating. Especially good food.

Hakyeon was eating far more slowly but with equal vigour. The coffee, when Taekwoon stopped shoving food in his mouth long enough to reach for it, was good, sublime, as well brewed as any one of the small artisan coffee brewers dotted around town and sometimes a little hard to find unless you knew where to look. This, Taekwoon supposed, could be said to be one of those places.

Hakyeon let him eat his food in silence—something that Taekwoon didn't understand was more rare than not. It was only after the empty plates had been cleared away and Taekwoon's cup whisked away and returned astonishingly quickly, refilled, that Hakyeon picked up the thread of conversation again.

"Now, where were we—ah, my cooking."

"Humans," Taekwoon supplied, genuinely curious.

"It's not much to talk about," Hakyeon said, frowning. "People are just silly about that sort of thing. Once everyone gets over the whole 'human' 'witch' thing, it's just fine. The thing is, no one _tries_ , and so here we are."

"You just talk to everyone," Taekwoon said.

"People are always nice once you get to know them," Hakyeon said. He propped his cheek against his hand, smiling at Taekwoon. "You like to act all scowling and grumpy, but you're really very cute. And Wonsik might look a little scary and intimidating at first, but—"

"Wonsik likes everyone," Taekwoon said. Grumped. He ignored Hakyeon's comment about himself. Especially the part about being cute—Hakyeon thought he was cute? The thought popped up like a whack-a-mole that disappeared before Taekwoon had a chance to smash it down. 

"Exactly! But you wouldn't know it if you just saw him across the street. It's the same thing."

"That's why you live with… Hongbin?" Taekwoon had to scour his mind for the name, even if they had just met; but it'd been very brief and Taekwoon had been a little sniffly.

"No, Hongbin and I grew up together," Hakyeon said, and then sighed. " _Such_ an adorable child, always said he wanted to run a store together with me—we even set up a lemonade stand with cookies. But then he went through a rebellious phase and now he's as grumpy as you are."

"I—not, am _not_ ," Taekwoon said. 

"I knew it," Hakyeon said happily. "You're just cute."

"I'm _not_."

"It's so cute when you say you're not cute," Hakyeon said. He looked far too smug. There was no winning. Catch-22. Taekwoon had never read the book, but he knew the saying, and this was very apt.

"We should go," Taekwoon said, pulling out his phone. It wasn't that late, but if they kept sitting here talking, Taekwoon wasn't sure his heart could take Hakyeon calling him cute any more times.

Hakyeon seemed to want to protest, but he nodded instead. He waved the server over and pressed a card into his hand before Taekwoon even had a chance to protest, or process.

"My treat," Hakyeon said. "Although I won't complain if you take me out to dinner some other time."

Take him out. Dinner. Take him out to dinner. Take Hakyeon, an unfortunately very beautiful person, out to dinner. 

Not that it had been what Hakyeon had meant, but Taekwoon felt his ears burning nonetheless and he stood up before they could turn any more red.

"Thank you," he said. "For dinner. And coffee."

"You must not live very far," Hakyeon said as they shrugged on coats and scarves and returned to the frigid outdoors of an autumn night. He was holding that damned little green bag that Taekwoon had almost already forgotten about. Cookies. He'd baked Hakyeon cookies.

"How do you know?"

"You walk to work," Hakyeon said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Let's walk together."

"You don't have to," Taekwoon mumbled. 

"Hm? What was that?"

"I can walk home by myself," Taekwoon said, forcing himself to speak louder.

"You don't want my company?" Hakyeon was definitely teasing him now. Taekwoon didn't know how to feel about that.

"No," Taekwoon said firmly, feeling bad even as he said it. "I don't."

"Okay," Hakyeon said.

Somehow, Taekwoon had been expecting a lot more resistance, and there was this strange disappointment in his gut when there wasn't. It didn't matter, because it turned out they lived most of the way in the same direction. They walked in silence, _Taekwoon_ feeling bordering on uncomfortable, and when had he ever been uncomfortable with silence?

"Well, this is me," Hakyeon said. He gestured down a street two blocks before Taekwoon's. "Good night, Taekwoon. I enjoyed tonight."

Taekwoon nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Good night."

He walked away, steps quick, even before Hakyeon had turned down his street. That hadn't been, he told himself, been anything like a date.

(And he most definitely hadn't been imagining what it could've been like, if it had been. Most definitely not.)

 

\---

 

"You look happy," Wonsik said as Taekwoon walked in with a hot latte from his favourite coffee shop in his hands and still suppressing a yawn. 

He narrowed his eyes at Wonsik who was irritatingly chipper in the way that meant he probably hadn't slept, instead of having just dragged himself out of bed. 

Taekwoon, on the other hand, had just dragged himself out of bed and the caffeine was still working its way into his system. He should have gotten a strong, black coffee but he'd felt like enjoying something a little sweet this morning.

"Fuck you," he muttered, sounding annoyingly like Jaehwan. He was fairly sure familiars were supposed to take after their witches, not the other way around. 

"Woah, okay? But really, your aura is just better," Wonsik said. He dodged a half-hearted zap from Taekwoon, and returned it with a prodding one of his own that Taekwoon drowsily didn't shield. Taekwoon just glowered.

"I hate it when you're awake," Taekwoon grumbled. The latte was still on the hot side of warm, even though it was _cold_ outside. He had spelled all the cups in that shop to hold heat after all. It was why he always got a discount. The coffee burned his tongue a little, but it was worth it for the way it warmed him from the inside and nudged his sleepy brain awake.

"Good thing too, because we already had someone come in," Wonsik said.

" _What_? We don't open for another half hour."

"Not exactly a customer," Wonsik tentatively allowed. Taekwoon gave him a Look.

"Hongbin wandered in," Wonsik said.

"What was _he_ doing here?" This little piece of news was less of a nudge towards 'awake' and more of an insistent prod, coupled with a sense of 'ugh'. 

"Escaping Hakyeon," Wonsik said. "Seems like _he's_ in an extra good mood. And raving about your baking skills."

Taekwoon did a very good impression of a goldfish. "Oh," he said very coherently when he caught himself in the goldfish impression a second too late. Wonsik raised an eyebrow at him, almost _smirking_ the traitor.

"Hongbin said Hakyeon got home kinda late," Wonsik added.

He didn't need to be a genius to put together that Wonsik had put together those (very damning) pieces and formed an entirely false conclusion.

"We just went to get coffee," Taekwoon said after taking a good drink of his current coffee. "And dinner."

" _Dinner_ dinner?" Wonsik asked.

"Food, dinner," Taekwoon said flatly. 

"'You went to dinner together,' dinner?"

"We _ate_ dinner together," Taekwoon said. Wonsik's grin grew wider.

"So he took you to dinner," Wonsik said. 

Taekwoon resisted the very childish urge to throw his coffee at Wonsik's head and scream. If only because yes, Wonsik wasn't wrong. Hakyeon had taken him to dinner.

_Hakyeon had taken him to dinner_.

He didn't have the strength of mind to stop himself from internally screaming like a highschool girl in the cheesiest shoujo anime imaginable. He was so gone. It was terrible.

 

\---

 

It wasn't until almost a full week later that he saw Hakyeon again.

Vague relief had slowly bubbled into mild concern, so much so that Taekwoon was beginning to contemplate popping across the street into Hakyeon's store again. Wonsik had made it patently clear that he thought Taekwoon was being ridiculous, but Taekwoon still had a strange hope the next time he'd see Hakyeon he'd be able to work up the courage to very casually repay—only repay!—Hakyeon for dinner. He hadn't. So clearly he couldn't.

He'd catch glimpses of Hakyeon every now and then through two sets of storefront windows, but always ducked out of sight the moment he did.

Hongbin, on the other hand, was a different story.

Taekwoon made sure to conspicuously disappear into the backroom every time Hongbin did. He could tell it was Hongbin—and he was sure Wonsik could too—even before Hongbin walked through the doors, because the wards were beginning to get to know and even like Hongbin. Probably because Wonsik had done those. And it was very, very clear how Wonsik felt about Hongbin.

Ugh.

Not the way Taekwoon felt about Hongbin, that was for sure.

Almost a full week since The Dinner, there was an entirely different tinkling in the wards that didn't signal stranger, customer, _or_ Hongbin. It made Taekwoon pop his head out of the backroom faster than a meerkat and faster than Taekwoon's logical thought caught up, but by then it was too late.

"Taekwoon!" Hakyeon's smile was debilitatingly blinding. Even more so because it'd been so long. Less than a week was _not_ long, Taekwoon scolded himself.

"Hakyeon," Taekwoon said, trying to sound at least mildly annoyed. It didn't seem to go well.

"We've missed you," Wonsik said. He grinned at Hakyeon, walking around the counter to lean back against it. Hakyeon gave him a tight hug that Wonsik accepted with easy-going reciprocity, but Hakyeon thoughtfully didn't do the same to Taekwoon and just _beamed_ at him instead. 

"But not Hongbin," Hakyeon said, mischievous. 

Hakyeon's smile, now that Taekwoon had slightly readjusted to the whole too-bright-it-might-as-well-be-the-literal-sun part, was not as bright as usual. Wonsik didn't seem to have noticed and they were chatting away as usual—maybe he was imagining it. 

"What's wrong?" Taekwoon asked, cutting into the conversation. Both of them stared at him—Wonsik in slight confusion, but it was Hakyeon's odd mix of concern and hesitation that caught at Taekwoon's attention.

"Now that you mention it, there was something," Hakyeon said slowly. "A nice lady came into the store today looking for something protective and cleansing, calming. I asked her what she needed it exactly for because we all know magic is complicated when combined even for witches, and she brought up her son—sometimes I like checking in on customers especially if it seems to be a complicated problem—so I think I'll pay them a visit after we close. Sanghyuk? She mentioned you—I thought you might have some grasp of his situation."

Taekwoon turned towards Wonsik and frowned.

"Yeah, I popped in for a visit a while back," Wonsik said. "About when you moved in, actually. He's a smart kid but his mom's not a witch and doesn't really know what to do with him. Seems to have been doing a bit of self studying." He paused. "He was kinda annoyed that his mom thought he needed help, though."

"Hm." Hakyeon pursed his lips. "It seems like his mom still thinks he needs help."

"He's a kid," Taekwoon said. 

"I agree with Taekwoon," Wonsik said. "We'll go with you."

Hakyeon looked quickly between Taekwoon and Wonsik, and then back to Taekwoon, clearly perplexed. It happened. Both of them were used to it. 

"Sometimes kids get into trouble without meaning to," Wonsik explained. Taekwoon nodded. 

"You make it sound like we're truancy officers," Hakyeon said with a small laugh. He turned to Taekwoon and nodded as well. "Then it's a date. I'm counting on you."

It was one hundred percent not what Hakyeon had meant, but Taekwoon's poor heart ran a marathon in a sprint and it had nothing at all to do with Sanghyuk's possible truancy.

 

\---

 

Taekwoon was uncharacteristically silent on the walk over—or, characteristically silent, depending on who one asked. Hakyeon was happy chatting with Wonsik about the _weather_ (which, Taekwoon agreed, was very cold) as well as bonding over classical texts (that Taekwoon was more than familiar with too) and even _inviting him over_ —"and Taekwoon, if you're willing to spend more time with us."

And inviting Taekwoon over as well, apparently. Taekwoon hummed something noncommittal, curling up ever deeper into himself and his thick wool scarf. 

"We're almost there," Taekwoon announced loudly. He wasn't exactly sure _where_ was there since he'd never been here, but from the map and the street signs and how long they'd been walking in proportion to how long the online map had projected (there were some things where non-magical technology was really the way to go), they were almost there. Wonsik looked at him strangely but nodded.

"Yeah, just that building over there," he said, and pointed to an entirely unremarkable house.

Unremarkable that was, until they were half a block away, and the persistent crackle of magic was buzzing oddly in the air, and got only odder as they approached. Hakyeon and Wonsik shared a look, Taekwoon frowned, and they all began walking much, much faster.

For all the unease bubbling in Taekwoon's chest, Sanghyuk's parents seemed entirely unaware and unperturbed when Hakyeon ran the bell.

"This is the sweet new witch I was telling you about, dear," Sanghyuk's mother said. She pointed to Hakyeon. Sanghyuk's dad nodded and held out a hand, which Hakyeon shook firmly.

"It's good to see you again," Taekwoon greeted. He'd met Sanghyuk's dad once before—it was usually his mom who did the shopping.

"Hakyeon mentioned that he was going to pay you a home visit, so Taekwoon and I thought we'd tag along and see that Sanghyuk's doing alright," Wonsik said. He gestured down a hall that Taekwoon guessed must've been where the kid's room was. "Since we'll probably just get in Hakyeon's way here."

It seemed impossible to Taekwoon that Sanghyuk's parents _didn't_ feel the crackling. He ducked his head in a quick bow to them and walked very calmly and very slowly toward the source of the crackling—so slow and calm that he got there before Wonsik who was walking very quickly. 

"Aw geez," Wonsik said—and then turned the locked handle of the door. He cast a quick spell under his breath with a speed and ease that Taekwoon envied and not even a second later, the door was flung wide open.

It wasn't just any odd buzz of magic, it was a very _strong_ buzz of magic. Wonsik cursed at the _pentagram_ on the floor of the room, and the kid had the absolute audacity to look up and grin at them from where he sat next to it. They had clearly been too late.

"I cannot. Believe. You told me it was theoretical curiosity only!" Wonsik rounded on Sanghyuk. Taekwoon felt the vague projection of terror Wonsik was emitting, but he was...distracted.

Taekwoon didn't think he'd ever seen such a fluffy hellhound, because that was without a doubt what the awkwardly sized dog lying across Sanghyuk's lap was. He tuned out Wonsik's lecture—it wasn't for him anyway—and reached for the puppy's fluffy white head. The puppy cracked open one blood red eye—Taekwoon couldn't help it, he cooed.

"I'm going to call him Punch," Sanghyuk proudly declared. He scratched the hellhound behind the ear, and Punch rumbled appreciatively. Wonsik, on the other hand, seemed vaguely aghast at being ignored and interrupted.

" _Taekwoon_ ," Wonsik hissed.

"Is everything alright—Han Sanghyuk where did you get that dog?" 

Hakyeon and Sanghyuk's parents suddenly appeared in the doorway, no doubt drawn by the commotion. Sanghyuk's father was staring at Sanghyuk in a way that suggested he was going to be grounded for a month. Hakyeon stared at all three—four, including the hellhound—his eyes wide as dishes. He, at least, had very quickly put everything together. Taekwoon couldn't help it. He had to give the puppy a head rub. It was a hellhound, but it was also a good dog. Good dogs needed to be pet. This good dog was no different, and like any good dog, he was very happy at being given pets, which made Taekwoon happy.

"I summoned it," Sanghyuk said, as if it weren't an incredibly difficult task that not even Taekwoon had ever attempted, _and_ he'd had extensive schooling in magic. Han Sanghyuk had, well, he had none. "I had to rush a little—I wanted an adult dog—but I think he turned out alright."

"Well I do wish you'd asked for a dog the normal way, Hyukkie," Sanghyuk's mom said, even less concerned than her husband about the whole situation. "But don't think you're not in trouble, young man. I don't know anything about magic and maybe this is all very normal, but I remember you promising me you wouldn't try anything on your own."

Taekwoon felt that he maybe ought to point out that there was nothing normal about the whole situation and that one misstep and they'd have toppled firmly over the crack into Disaster, but there was a good dog who needed petting. Besides, he was sure Wonsik and Hakyeon had it under control.

 

\---

 

"You're adding _babysitting_ on top of all my duties," Jaehwan grumbled. He'd settled himself on the back of Punch, the poor hellhound completely cowed by Jaehwan into total obedience after a single night in the Taekwoon-Jaehwan household. 

"I'm sure you won't find it too taxing," Taekwoon said. They must have made an odd sight. A fluffy white hellhound with a cat familiar curled up on his back, trotting next to a witch.

Jaehwan sniffed. " _You're_ sure. You were also sure you were going to get through this entire winter without getting sick once, and we all know how that worked out."

"We do not talk about that," Taekwoon said through grit teeth. It was an unseasonably warm November morning, and Taekwoon didn't need to be reminded of darker times.

"Really? Because that was just a week ago. You've gotta still remember it—your _Competition_ made you soup and all that."

Taekwoon was getting a headache. He regretted telling Jaehwan why he'd been baking cookies that night. 

"Sanghyuk isn't coming until after school," Taekwoon said. The best course of dealing with Jaehwan, Taekwoon had found through the years, was to ignore Jaehwan. 

"I'm babysitting a school child who summoned a ratty little hellhound," Jaehwan grumbled. Punch whined a small protest at being called ratty and little—and immediately quieted when Jaehwan extended his claws. Poor hellhound. He'd caught Jaehwan in a bad mood. Then again, he was the cause of Jaehwan's bad mood—the cat didn't take kindly to being superseded in the line of Taekwoon's attentions.

Taekwoon sighed deeply, feeling his sympathies extend to the somewhat overgrown puppy. He hoped that hellhounds grew in their mortal realm—he remembered his own teenage years and it would be its own sort of hell for the poor puppy to be stuck in it forever.

 

\---

 

The wards tinkled midway through the afternoon, pulling an exhausted Taekwoon out from the back room. Jaehwan had managed to knock over his cauldron three separate times—and Taekwoon couldn't even pretend to believe that it had been on accident. Punch, on the other hand, had been napping behind the counter with Wonsik. Taekwoon wished he had _his_ company instead, but the dog wanted to be in a room alone with Jaehwan as much as Taekwoon did at the moment. Wonsik had been overjoyed. It seemed that Punch had won over everyone's heart, hellhound not-withstanding. To be quite fair, it seemed like he'd forgone the training in destruction and mayhem his kind were supposed to have. Maybe it was because he was still an overgrown puppy.

Hakyeon had a firm arm around Sanghyuk's waist as he ushered him into the store. Sanghyuk, for his part, looked every bit the longsuffering high schooler he was. There was a scarf wrapped around his neck so many times that Taekwoon was surprised he wasn't suffocating—the scarf looked suspiciously like Hakyeon's. A theory that Hakyeon's own lack of a scarf rather lent credence to.

"What are you doing here?" Taekwoon found the words leaving his mouth before his brain could catch up. He meant Hakyeon, of course. Hakyeon who seemed to recoil at Taekwoon's words.

"He _escorted_ me here from school," Sanghyuk grumbled as he wriggled out of Hakyeon's grasp. Fighting his way out of the scarf was second on his immediate to do list. It was dumped back into Hakyeon's arms the moment he was free. "I don't need to be picked up, _mom_. Don't you have a job to do?"

Punch had perked up as soon as he'd felt his human nearby, and now at his voice, he almost fulfilled his destiny of destruction leaping over the counter in an attempt to knock Sanghyuk down. Or give him a very excited puppy hug. 

"Punch! It's not fair that they won't let you stay with me." Sanghyuk dropped to a crouch, laughing as the hellhound covered him in dog saliva. 

"He's a hellhound," Wonsik said like it was the tenth time—it probably was, given the somewhat tense disagreement he and Sanghyuk had had last night over the custody of the dog. "You have _parents_."

"So do you," Sanghyuk shot back.

"They don't live with me and they're both witches," Wonsik said.

Hakyeon clapped his hands sharply. "Children, stop arguing. Hyukkie here is right, I do have a job so I'll leave him here in your very capable hands."

"Oh please, they're just going to dump him on me." Jaehwan emerged from the back room, tail held high and haughty. Punch whimpered when he saw the cat familiar, pressing himself against Sanghyuk.

Taekwoon sighed. 

"Meet Jaehwan," he said. "Sanghyuk. Hakyeon."

"I know," Jaehwan said. He stopped in a patch of sun and gave his paw a lick. "The school child and the competition."

Taekwoon garbled some words—Jaehwan jumped out of the way before Taekwoon had a chance to strangle him.

"Cool, a talking cat. Did you summon him too?" Sanghyuk looked up at Taekwoon. His arms were still wrapped around Punch.

"I am a familiar and can not be summoned," Jaehwan said. He stalked to Sanghyuk and stopped about a foot away, giving him a suspicious sniff. "Lesson one. You will treat me with the utmost respect and obey my every word."

"You're a cat," Sanghyuk said. He clearly had zero intention of following either of those two rules. Taekwoon had a sneaking suspicion at what was about to happen—Sanghyuk, from his screech, did not.

"That, that _tickles_ , ouch, hey, alright, I get it!" 

The four of them, including Punch, watched as Jaehwan zapped Sanghyuk with a hundred tiny shocks—nothing that would hurt, but it was more than enough to give Sanghyuk an idea that Jaehwan may have been cat shaped, but he was much more dangerous than a cat.

Hakyeon, satisfied that all was in order, turned to go. Against his better judgement, Taekwoon stepped quickly around the Sanghyuk-Jaehwan-Punch pile on the floor and met Hakyeon at the door.

"Thank you for bringing him," Taekwoon said.

"We were playing truant officers, can't let him accidentally loose," Hakyeon said with a twinkle in his eye. He pushed open the door and Taekwoon followed him out. Taekwoon felt Wonsik's eyes on him, but that could wait.

"Playing truant officer the first time just made it worse," Taekwoon said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and poked at a small stone with his toe. "It might have stayed theoretical if I hadn't sent Wonsik over."

"He's a smart kid, he would have tried something dangerous at some point," Hakyeon said. "Although I am glad we ended up with a baby hellhound instead of a full-grown one. This one seems much more manageable."

"He's… He's nice," Taekwoon said, like he hadn't been up half the night getting Punch comfortable. 

"Taekwoon, you are _smitten_ with him." Hakyeon looked like he was barely holding back a laugh. Taekwoon glowered and smacked at him the old-fashioned way. He was rewarded by a hearty zap straight to his arm.

"Ow," Taekwoon whined. 

"That wasn't even supposed to hurt," Hakyeon said. 

"Well it _did_."

Hakyeon did laugh this time, but it wasn't a mocking laugh, or too mocking at least. 

"I'm glad the two of you came with me last night. I don't know if I could have handled all that alone," Hakyeon said. "Thanks. I'm really glad you did."

"It was nothing," Taekwoon mumbled. There was a question on the tip of his tongue, but Hakyeon wasn't done talking.

"I was thinking of dinner—"

"No!" Taekwoon had blurted the word out before he could stop himself; because _have you been avoiding me?_ and _I owe you dinner_ were what he'd meant to say.

"That's not what I meant, I meant… I…" Taekwoon bit at his lip, his words tumbling out all wrong. He glanced up at Hakyeon for just a moment before his shoes were suddenly fascinating all over again. It was more than enough time for the shock morph into hurt, and the hurt melt into Hakyeon for it to be replaced by a sad smile. Hakyeon's smiles weren't supposed to be sad, but _sad_ was the only way that look on Hakyeon's face could have been described as.

"No, it's alright," Hakyeon said. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Thanks for taking care of Sanghyuk. I guess I'll…" Hakyeon gestured to his own store a few steps away—Taekwoon could see Hongbin watching them through the window with his arms crossed over his chest. He had seen happier people failing their exams.

"I should check on them," Taekwoon said, gesturing just as awkwardly behind him. He was getting the distinct feeling of someone watching, and it was exceedingly possible that Wonsik was staring at him through the storefront. They were, after all, standing right in front of the large glass window.

"I'll see you later," Hakyeon said. He turned to go, still holding his scarf and not wearing it.

"Uh—come play with Punch, sometime," Taekwoon called out to Hakyeon's back. He felt like he had to say _something_ , but his voice dropped to a mumble by the end anyway. Heat was rising to his cheeks. 

Hakyeon looked back at him and smiled, full on bright blinding sun, and gave him a thumbs up and a nod. 

 

\---

 

"So you and the _competition_ ," Jaehwan said as soon as Taekwoon walked back in. The cat was perched on the display counter right by the window and leapt down to walk all over Taekwoon's feet, never letting go of the cat equivalent of a leer. Taekwoon scowled and kicked at him—Jaehwan clawed his leg in return. 

"Ouch." Sanghyuk winced in sympathy, but he too was staring at Taekwoon with interest. Punch whined.

"None of you are working," Taekwoon said. 

Wonsik shrugged. "Not like you are," he said.

"Don't look at me, I'm here to learn," Sanghyuk said. He grinned cheekily.

"Can't teach if he's not listening," Jaehwan said. "He won't let go of the mutt."

"I bet Punch could eat you," Sanghyuk said, almost growling. He hugged the poor puppy in a vice grip about his neck.

"The mutt can try," Jaehwan said. He sniffed at the air, daring the hellhound. Wonsik shared a look with Taekwoon—maybe this hadn't been the best idea after all.

"Jaehwan, enough." Taekwoon snapped at the cat, firm enough that the bell on Jaehwan's collar gave a little shake, making a single, sharp sound. Jaehwan mrrd and desisted, slinking back a step.

"Fine, but the mutt stays here," Jaehwan grumbled. He stalked off, tail held high, and disappeared through the small opening in the door to the back.

"You should enroll in an academy," Taekwoon said. He fought back the urge to sigh.

"I told you, I'm going to go to a normal university with my friends," Sanghyuk said with a small shrug. He finally stood, giving Punch a good scratch behind the ears. "I'd rather be a, I dunno, programmer or accountant or something. No offense, but magic's more of a…" Sanghyuk trailed off, looking away guiltily.

"A hobby," Taekwoon said. Sanghyuk gave the tiniest nod. 

"Well, that's understandable," Wonsik said from where he leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. He gave a small shrug and an encouraging smile. "Not exactly much job security in it these days. Plenty of witches who go for more stable jobs too."

"But they know how not to cause trouble," Taekwoon said. Two of his sisters had left the family business for a normal human university education too, but they'd spent their entire lives up to that point being schooled in why summoning hellhounds was a bad idea. 

Wonsik snorted in amusement. "If we tried to pull what you did, you can bet we'd get a walloping before we even drew the second line. But you've got talent and power, and you're sharp. Either you put that to good use, or you're a liability."

"Why witches have a bad name," Taekwoon added softly. Sanghyuk's face sombered, and he looked down at Punch.

"Go. Jaehwan's waiting for you."

Sanghyuk nodded again, his shoulders hunched as he walked past Taekwoon. He paused a step later, turning back to stare at Taekwoon with a slight frown.

"Why does Jaehwan call Hakyeon the competition?" Sanghyuk asked. "And what's with you and Hakyeon?"

"He _likes_ him!" Jaehwan yowled from inside. 

Taekwoon shoved Sanghyuk aside and threw himself forward. " _Die_ ," he growled, bursting through the door. "Just wait, you _cat_!"

 

\---

 

"Well, that went well," Wonsik said as they locked up for the night. Jaehwan was curled up on Punch's back again. The hellhound had accepted his designation as cat carrier with the resignation of a man on the way to the gallows. Taekwoon, with some fresh claw marks on his ankles and arms, felt his sympathy for the dog deepen by the moment.

"In what way," Taekwoon grumbled. He glowered down at Jaehwan who'd gone back to licking his paw.

"Sanghyuk seemed happy," Wonsik said tentatively. He knew exactly what Jaehwan had done to Taekwoon. 

"I guess," Taekwoon allowed. The kid had been grinning from ear to ear when his mom had come to pick him up. He hadn't even complained too much about having to say bye to Punch, although the dog had different thoughts.

"If you think about it, it worked out pretty good," Wonsik said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Being winter, and getting closer to the winter solstice by the day, the sun had long set and it would have been pitch dark outside if it weren't for the fairy globes of witchlight strung up along the side of the street. It was one of the simplest conjurations—Sanghyuk had looked at them in wide-eyed wonder as he'd been told this. Much, _much_ simpler than summoning a hellhound. 

"Yeah," Taekwoon agreed. He paused, scuffing a shoe against the sidewalk before he remembered to stop himself. "Hakyeon said something about dinner, but I'm busy. Maybe you should go."

Wonsik's eyebrows shot up and so did Jaehwan's metaphorical ones. He stopped mid-lick, pink tongue still sticking out.

"I have to take Punch home and do...things. So, you go. Good night, Wonsik. C'mon Punch, let's go boy." Taekwoon hurried down the street, Wonsik's eyes on his back. Punch barked once in acknowledgement and trotted next to him, tail wagging all the way.

 

\---

 

Taekwoon _had_ been busy that night. Busy burying his face in his pillow and screaming silently while Punch licked his leg in concern. Apparently hellhound spit was a curative because the wounds Jaehwan had inflicted on him were half mended in the morning, who knew. It wasn't like there was a whole lot of research on forbidden-to-be-summoned hellhounds.

Life… settled. Sanghyuk would come by three times a week to eat up whatever Jaehwan was teaching that day. Sometimes Hakyeon would wander into their store or Wonsik would hop across the street to theirs. Jaehwan and Punch had come to an agreement that suited them both, and the hellhound seemed to _like_ sleeping next to the cat familiar in front of the fireplace. If Taekwoon hadn't known better, they looked like any cat-dog pair in your run-of-the-mill human instagram duo. 

Neither Hakyeon nor Wonsik had said anything about dinner, although Hongbin still gave him withering looks every time their paths crossed. 

It was getting steadily colder. Taekwoon hated the cold. He traded his thinner wool sweaters for thicker wool sweaters and charmed his coat every morning to hold heat better. Neither Jaehwan nor Punch seemed to mind the cold, but one was a being of magic, and the other was a dog from hell. 

The two of them had both become fixtures around the store, and more than one small child had to be held back from hugging Punch, although Punch himself didn't seem to mind too much. Maybe the hasty summoning had jogged something in his circuits because those kids could test the patience of even a normal pup. Taekwoon didn't get it—this hellhound was nothing like the hellhounds that'd been described in the books. 

But there had been one Incident, Incident with a capital I. The morning had started with a mouthful of cat butt, interrupted by Punch _actually eating his phone_ just because Jaehwan had told him to, and then the power had gone off and Taekwoon couldn't even bother to make coffee without it. He'd been murderous by the time he made it to the store, _without_ the two of them. At least the dog looked guilty, even if Jaehwan had probably never felt guilty once in his unreasonably long life. 

"Oh, uh, Taekwoon!"

"Leave me alone," Taekwoon'd snapped at Wonsik. He'd slapped one of Wonsik's silencing charms on the door and sank into the backroom in blissful silence. 

Which meant he hadn't heard Wonsik calling for him, Wonsik's knocking, or Hakyeon until the door was flung open and the entire cacophony of noise slammed into him with enough force to make him jump. The glass vial he'd been distilling into shattered in his hand.

"What the _fuck_ Wonsik—"

Taekwoon froze, glass shards he'd started flinging at Wonsik stopping their trajectory mid air and clattering to the floor in a shower of sad tinkling. It wasn't Wonsik. Hakyeon stood there, eyes wide and holding a—

"Cake?"

"Happy birthday?" Hakyeon ventured. "Can I come in?"

Taekwoon blinked and nodded. "It's my birthday?"

"Wonsik told me it was the tenth," Hakyeon said, walking in. He put the cake on a chair even though there was space on the table—Hakyeon's potions teacher wouldn't be horrified at him for mixing food and possibly poisonous ingredients. 

"It's the tenth?" Taekwoon frowned and reached for his phone before he remembered that Punch had partially filled his destiny of destruction when he'd eaten it.

"Punch ate my phone," Taekwoon said.

"Jaehwan told him to, didn't he?" Hakyeon asked, laughing a little. He gestured at the cake. "Don't worry, I bought it. I never got the hang of baking cake."

"Is it safe?" Wonsik poked his head through the door, ready to escape the moment Taekwoon turned on him, the coward. Taekwoon glared at him.

"Surprise?" Wonsik said. 

"Why didn't you say anything?" Taekwoon made sure with his eyes that Wonsik knew he was lucky to be escaping death. 

"I thought you were gonna kill me when you came in this morning." Wonsik laughed nervously. "I tried to stop him but Hakyeon kinda insisted."

"Jaehwan is an asshole," Taekwoon said. 

Wonsik winced in sympathy. "Ah." 

"Does Jaehwan do things like that often?" Hakyeon asked. Taekwoon immediately nodded and then shook his head, reluctant. For all that the cat was an absolute dick, he was more useful than not. 

It'd turned out that it'd all been part of Jaehwan's grand birthday surprise too. Taekwoon had gone home to an apartment full of family, a new phone with all his old data backed up to it, and the discovery that Jaehwan was far more inclined to listen to his sisters than him, even if one of them _was_ an accountant.

But the Incident aside, life settled. 

"Why are the holidays always so busy," Wonsik sighed, almost melting over the counter once they'd changed the sign from open to close. It was full dark as usual.

"Good business," Taekwoon said, but he was inclined to agree. He would be flopped all over the floor right now if Wonsik hadn't claimed that role first.

Neither of them were expecting the knock on the door. They shared a look before Wonsik called "we're closed" out wearily. Sometimes they'd make exceptions. This was definitely not one of those times.

"Even for me?" Hakyeon's sweet voice drifted through the reinforced wood.

Taekwoon stared at Wonsik until he sighed and cast a quick spell to open the door. Hakyeon was standing there in an even thicker scarf than usual, and a scattering of snow in his hair like fairy dust.

"Huh. When did it start snowing?" Wonsik asked.

"It's pretty," Taekwoon said out without thinking. He gestured at Hakyeon—at the door. "I mean, the snow."

Wonsik gave him a strange look. Hakyeon laughed, brushing snow out of his hair as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. 

"I saw your lights were still on so I decided to drop by since it's been a while," Hakyeon said. "And Hongbin's playing video games at his friend's place so there's no one at home."

"Busy for you too?" Wonsik said, sympathetic.

"Christmas is next week, candles are perfect for decoration _and_ for presents, especially magical ones," Hakyeon said. He seemed to puff up with pride—he rather deserved it.

"Present season is like that," Wonsik agreed.

"Mmhmm, but good business," Hakyeon said with a laugh.

"That's what I said," Taekwoon cut in. He was being left out.

"How's Hyukkie been doing these days?" Hakyeon asked.

"I dunno, school picked up for him and it's been busy enough without everyone else being underfoot," Wonsik said.

"He means Jaehwan," Taekwoon supplied. 

"Ah, of course," Hakyeon said. "What an unexpected twist—the familiar being the troublemaker and the hellhound being the sweet one."

"Come play with him," Taekwoon blurted. "Punch, I mean. Not Jaehwan. Now. If you want."

"Are you sure?" Hakyeon frowned and looked at Wonsik, for some odd reason.

Wonsik shrugged. "I'll take a pass this time," Wonsik said. "You two can head out, I'll close up here."

Taekwoon didn't wait for Wonsik to change his mind before he grabbed his coat and bolted out the door. He stuck his hands in his pockets, not expecting the sudden drop in temperature. It was still snowing and light from the fairy globes caught each snowflake and made the crystal glow silver. It wasn't a heavy snow, but it was enough to leave a faint dusting of moonlight over everything. A single pair of footsteps crossed from one side of the street to the other, ending right where Taekwoon was standing.

"You look cold," Hakyeon commented. 

Taekwoon shrugged. He jerked his head down the street. "That way," he said. His voice dropped soft, his mind finally catching up to his actions just to shriek that he was _alone_ with Hakyeon, and not being very helpful in general. He quickly started walking. They'd been alone before. It was fine. This was normal. They were friends.

Friends? Taekwoon frowned to himself at the word without realising it. He wasn't very good at making friends. But Hakyeon was a friend. Definitely. A friend.

"Is it far?" Hakyeon asked. 

Taekwoon shook his head. "Fifteen minutes," he said.

"Hm, still a bit far. Here." 

Suddenly, a scarf was being deposited around his neck and wrapped around once so that one end hung loosely in front of him. Taekwoon froze in surprise—Hakyeon adjusted the scarf a little, smiling.

"That's better, isn't it?" 

It was still warm from Hakyeon. It smelled like Hakyeon—Taekwoon hadn't really _smelled_ Hakyeon before of course, but it had to smell like Hakyeon. Hakyeon smelt like many things—his store, warm spices, pale vanilla, and the lemongrass citrus from the candle still by Taekwoon's bedside. 

Of course he did, because Hakyeon had made that candle with his own hands.

If Taekwoon tried to say anything at that moment, something embarrassing would have come out of his mouth, so he settled for nodding instead. Hakyeon smiled at him, and Taekwoon felt a little bit like melting into a pile of scarf-shaped goo.

His silence lasted about five steps before Taekwoon said: "you're cold."

"Me? No, it's alright," Hakyeon said. "You wouldn't want to get sick again right now, and I'd feel terrible if you got sick on my account." 

"But—"

"I won't get sick," Hakyeon said with a small laugh. "Never been sick, probably never will."

Taekwoon left it at that, because what sort of reply could he give?

 

\---

 

It wasn't until Taekwoon was unlocking the door to his apartment that he had the horrifying realisation there were probably stray socks lying around and dirty dishes in the sink. It wasn't that Taekwoon never had people over, it was just that those people knew Taekwoon well enough that it wouldn't matter (his family, most of his friends), or that Taekwoon didn't care what those people thought (especially Wonsik). Hakyeon fit into neither of those categories, but the door was already unlocked and Hakyeon was very much right next to him and Taekwoon had very much invited him to his apartment.

"It's messy," he said, as if it would help.

"After living with Hongbin, everywhere is a little 'messy', so it's fine," Hakyeon said. Taekwoon frowned at him. He couldn't tell if it was supposed to be reassuring. Hakyeon was smiling but there was also mischief in his eyes—Taekwoon frowned harder before he blew out a puff of air and pushed open the door.

"I knew I smelled something funny." Jaehwan was standing right in the open doorway, back arched and hackles raised. He relaxed when it was just Hakyeon, but it didn't stop Jaehwan from glaring at him before stalking off. "I told Punch to eat your shoes," Jaehwan tossed over his shoulder without looking back.

"Uh—"

"He's been telling Punch that every day," Taekwoon said with a deep sigh. "Come in, I guess."

"Should I be worried about my shoes?" Hakyeon asked.

"Probably not," Taekwoon said. He hoped that he was right, and that Punch wouldn't suddenly get an urge to return to his demonic roots—or succumb to Jaehwan's demonic suggestions. He didn't see the hellhound, but he suspected Punch was hidden behind the couch where a shaft of sunlight would warm the floor during the afternoon, or was somewhere on the other side of the blanket pile.

Hakyeon paused in the doorway, clearly taking a moment to assess Taekwoon's messy den. He'd taken off his shoes, the laces completely undone, and lined them up neatly in the tray. Taekwoon had kicked his own off and into the corner. 

Taekwoon stood just behind Hakyeon, looking at his apartment through a stranger's eyes. Hakyeon's hair was getting a little long at the back, and little melting drops of snow plopped against his neck. Taekwoon tore his eyes away from staring creepily at Hakyeon's back, and to the laptop half buried in the blankets on the couch, the squeaky chicken covered in dog spit and bite marks under the coffee table that was covered in books and papers and two empty coffee mugs he'd never gotten around to washing. A single chair was slotted part way in under a plain dining table just next to the kitchen. The other chair was being used as a clothes rack in his bedroom. There really wasn't much else. The kitchen was more or less clean—despite his worry, there were no dirty dishes for once, although his various coffee makers (would Hakyeon think he was weird for having six of them?) were scattered around the counter in no particular order. It wasn't, all in all, that bad.

Taekwoon cleared his throat. "I can take your jacket," he said. His voice was all soft again. He wished it wasn't.

"Oh, yes, thank you," Hakyeon said. He slipped it off his slender shoulders and handed it to Taekwoon. Hakyeon was wearing a brown argyle sweater, the collar of a pale pink button up just peeking through. It suited him. It was cute.

A furious blush worked its way up from his neck to his cheeks the moment the thought came into existence. Taekwoon couldn't turn away to hang Hakyeon's jacket up fast enough. He looped Hakyeon's scarf onto a third clothes hanger, because it was just that bulky. And warm.

"You can go in," Taekwoon said into the closet. He gestured to the side, toward the couch. "Punch is probably behind that. He's probably sleeping."

"I shouldn't bother him," Hakyeon said. All of a sudden, a strange quietness worked its way into the corners of the room, spreading from the awkward pile of person that was Jung Taekwoon. The task of putting away their jackets in the closet couldn't hide him forever and when Taekwoon turned around, Hakyeon was still standing exactly where he'd been since they'd walked in, one hand in his pocket. 

"You won't," Taekwoon said. He tugged at Hakyeon's wrist as he walked to the couch, Hakyeon pulling back a moment in surprise before he followed. 

"Hey boy," Taekwoon called out. Sure enough, a fluffy white hellhound head poked up from behind the blankets, Punch's ears perked back and one sleepy blood red eye half open. Taekwoon let go of Hakyeon's wrist— _he'd been holding Hakyeon's wrist_. Warning bells sounded like klaxons in his head. He more or less jumped the back of the couch to bury both his hands in Punch's fur. He'd been _holding Hakyeon's wrist_. 

It was just one step away from holding his hand. Holding hands! Just the thought of it made his heart skip a hundred beats and then slam into his chest all the way to the back of his ribcage. It made breathing very difficult. Taekwoon nestled himself into the blankets like it would help.

"Aww," Hakyeon cooed. He leaned over the back of the couch, giving Punch a good scratch behind his ears. Leaning toward the hellhound also meant leaning toward Taekwoon. Hakyeon's face was very close to Taekwoon's face. It was a very pretty face. Taekwoon stared down at Punch who had a very nice face, but was not Hakyeon's face. Taekwoon was sure he was going to melt into a puddle of pink goo right then and there which was entirely _absurd_ he was a grown man not a teenage girl with a high school crush. He'd never even been a teenage girl with a high school crush, but he could imagine it, and he was imagining it right now, and it was him, at this very moment, in this very place. 

This had all been a terrible idea.

"You can come around," Taekwoon said. He slid off the couch, giving Hakyeon some room. "It's less awkward."

Hakyeon probably nodded because he did as Taekwoon had suggested, and very suddenly was standing right next to him. Very next to him. 

"He's still sleepy," Hakyeon said. His voice was very quiet too—it took Taekwoon a moment to connect the softness of Hakyeon's voice to his words. 

"You don't need to be quiet," Taekwoon said. 

"Oh? But you are," Hakyeon said. He frowned lightly at Taekwoon, but then a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Taekwoon was blushing and Hakyeon had noticed. Turning into a pile of pink goo seemed preferable right now.

"Are you nervous?" Hakyeon asked, just to be mean.

"Do you want water." It was meant to be a question, but Taekwoon couldn't escape the couch and the half a foot radius distance Hakyeon had placed himself in fast enough. Punch whined at the loss of two patting hands, and Taekwoon said a silent apology for the puppy's sacrifice. "Or coffee."

"It's a bit late for coffee," Hakyeon said. Taekwoon glanced over his shoulder. Hakyeon was sitting on the couch next to Punch, one hand resting on the puppy's fluffy white head. He was also smiling at Taekwoon in a fond way. Taekwoon didn't understand how he hadn't melted yet, not with Hakyeon right there, alone with him, and _smiling_.

"It's never too late for coffee," Taekwoon said. A thought struck him. "I never paid you back for dinner."

"Are you offering dinner?"

Without turning around and staring at his six assorted coffee makers, Taekwoon vigorously nodded his head. A long heartbeat of silence. Taekwoon nearly fumbled the water pitcher pouring it into the kettle. 

"Oh," Hakyeon said. Taekwoon held his breath. "That sounds good to me."

"I mean, you don't have to, it's just, since you're here—"

"I'd love to," Hakyeon said. "I'm just not very used to people asking me to stay for dinner."

Taekwoon ducked his head as he flicked the stove to life. He'd been planning on pity-cooking himself ramyun with frozen peas tonight to gear up for the busiest day all week. That option was being blown entirely off the table. He'd just invited Hakyeon to stay for dinner, but he didn't even know what was in his fridge.

But first, coffee.

"Are you allergic?" Taekwoon asked.

"To?"

"Anything."

"Mm, my dad says I'm allergic to silence," Hakyeon said with a small laugh. "But I don't think that's what you meant."

Taekwoon scoffed, turning about to lean against the counter. Hakyeon had pushed aside some of the blankets so he could sit up and lean back against the couch, with Punch resting his head in Hakyeon's lap. He grinned at Taekwoon's unimpressed face.

"Then it's not my fault if I accidentally kill you," Taekwoon said flatly.

"How will I know it's accidental? Jaehwan keeps telling me that you don't like me very much," Hakyeon said.

"I—that's not—I like you!" Taekwoon blurted out. A sliver of a second and he choked on his words. _I like you_ he'd just said to Hakyeon's face. Not that way, he hadn't meant it that way (or he hadn't meant to _say_ it to mean it that way), and Hakyeon looked like he couldn't decide whether to laugh or be concerned at Taekwoon's current state of being. Which involved making himself as small as possible as close to the ground as possible and with his face absolutely not being seen by anyone or anything.

"Oh, he admitted it. About time." Jaehwan walked into the living room and hopped up onto the back of the couch.

" _Jaehwan_ ," Taekwoon hissed through his hands.

"Yeah?" Jaehwan sat back and licked a paw.

" _Die._ "

"Your apartment would fall apart," Jaehwan said very pragmatically. "You don't mean it anyway. And it wasn't that hard—there you go, cat's out of the bag so to speak, Taekwoon likes the _competition_."

Hakyeon, when Taekwoon lifted his head enough to peek out through his fingers, had seemingly forgotten the hellhound in favour of staring at Jaehwan. He looked about as shellshocked as Taekwoon felt.

"Don't listen to him," Taekwoon choked out. 

"Is he... "

"Just, just ignore Jaehwan," Taekwoon said. He forced himself to stand up—the water was starting to bubble.

"Ignore me at your own peril," Jaehwan said. Punch, as if understanding, whimpered from experience.

Jaehwan, apparently oblivious to the sudden pall of silence, leapt from his temporary perch on the back of the couch to wind about Taekwoon's ankles. "What's for dinner?" 

"Nothing for you," Taekwoon grumbled. 

"Nothing for the competition either?"

"Hakyeon, his name is _Hakyeon_ ," Taekwoon growled. He snuffed out the stove with far more force than necessary, sparks flying from the excess energy he'd sent at it.

"Yes," Hakyeon said slowly, "my name _is_ Hakyeon."

Taekwoon tuned out whatever Jaehwan said next, and then whatever Hakyeon said next as well. He measured out exactly three scoops of coffee and poured them gently into the cone. He smoothed it gently with the tips of his fingers, feeling the even grind with satisfaction. The water flowed from the spout in an easy arc and the coffee bloomed under it. It was easy to pretend there was nothing else but him, the filter, the kettle, and the smell of coffee. Familiar motions, familiar smells—and even Jaehwan knew better than to bother him in these moments. 

He was done far too soon. Coffee was meant to be brewed slowly and carefully, but not so slow that time could stretch on for eternity.

"Coffee's done," he said. Those two words broke the spell he'd woven around himself without a drop of magic, and the world came flooding back in. "Jaehwan?"

The cat familiar padded over and hopped onto the counter. He picked up the freshly brewed mug of coffee and trotted it over to Hakyeon.

"That took a while," Hakyeon commented.

"It's coffee," Taekwoon said. He realised several moments too late that his explanation meant nothing to Hakyeon, but by then he was already peering into his fridge. Self-pity ramyun was definitely off the table he reminded himself. There was an assortment of vegetables and he knew there was some dried pasta somewhere in the cupboards. 

"We're having pasta," he decided.

"Taekwoon." 

Taekwoon whipped around. Hakyeon was staring at him very seriously over the rim of the mug. Was...something wrong? Taekwoon stared back.

"You have just single-handedly changed my mind about coffee," Hakyeon said. "You might have just swayed me on the tea and coffee debate. This is…"

"The best coffee you've ever had, and not a drop of magic went into it," Jaehwan said. He raised his head from where he'd curled up on Punch's back again. Taekwoon blushed at the praise.

"It's alright," Taekwoon said, ducking his head. He busied himself searching for the pasta instead. "I've had better."

"Then you _have_ to take me," Hakyeon said. "That's it, it's a date—I'm holding you to it!"

"Coffee date," Jaehwan laughed. 

"Boil water," Taekwoon told Jaehwan. 

"Ugh, someone's demanding," Jaehwan said but he hopped off of Punch and stalked across Hakyeon's lap to jump onto the counter. Unlike the water for coffee, the water for the pasta was boiled in an instant, pasta dumped in, and some innate Jaehwan timer started. It left Taekwoon free to melt the butter in the large pan, sliding in the freshly sliced mushrooms—magic was certainly good for cooking. Just the thought of having to manually cut all these ingredients into perfect pieces made him shudder. 

Behind him, he could hear Hakyeon cooing at Punch, and Punch's occasional happy snuffs. Beside him, the soft sound of bubbling water with Jaehwan stirring the pasta to keep it from sticking. In front of him, the gentle sizzle of butter against mushrooms, bell peppers, some thin pieces of chicken, a touch of garlic. The smell of coffee still filling the kitchen.

Taekwoon wouldn't mind living in this moment forever.

But like all moments, this moment also had to end. 

"Drain the pasta," Taekwoon said to Jaehwan, like Jaehwan hadn't spent half his life being everyone's cooking assistant. Jaehwan did the cat equivalent of a eyeroll, and certainly succeeded in an extremely disdainful look. 

"What do you think I am, stupid?" Jaehwan asked.

Taekwoon couldn't help it: "yes," he said. 

"I will maul you in your sleep and get Punch to eat every nice shirt you own," Jaehwan said flatly, straining out the pasta.

From the living room, Hakyeon laughed. It was a nice laugh—it was always a nice laugh but Taekwoon couldn't help but _notice_ it every time.

"It's cute," Hakyeon said. His chin was propped in his hand, elbow against the arm of the sofa. "The two of you."

"I _am_ cute, you're exactly correct, I'm glad you finally noticed," Jaehwan said, preening.

Taekwoon flushed, and turned back to the stove. "Milk, please," he muttered.

"Yes, yes," Jaehwan said. They were summoned in short order and placed in easy reach. 

It didn't take very long—Taekwoon had chosen something quick but still better than dumping sauce out of a jar. He carefully plated three portions, leaving one on the counter and carrying the other two to the table. 

"Let's eat," he said. There was, however, one problem. And that problem was the one chair. 

"You do have another chair, you know," Jaehwan said. He flicked his tail in the direction of Taekwoon's bedroom. "Good luck."

Taekwoon wanted to sink down to the floor. He hurried to his room instead, and dumped everything on the chair onto the floor, and hauled it back to the table.

"Let's eat," he said again.

"With our hands?" Hakyeon asked. He stared down at the table and then looked back at Taekwoon, a small smile playing about his lips. Taekwoon flushed, and in his hurry, nearly stabbed Hakyeon with the forks and knives.

"Nice way of showing your affection," Jaehwan said so only Taekwoon could hear.

_Shut up_ , Taekwoon thought hissed back to the cat.

"Thanks," Hakyeon said, and _smiled_. This wasn't fair—Taekwoon had known Hakyeon for weeks now, and his heart was still giving little melting signals every time he saw Hakyeon smile. 

"Let's eat," Taekwoon said for the third time.

This time, Hakyeon laughed and sat down. "Third time's always the charm," Hakyeon said.

"Sorry," Taekwoon said. He watched nervously as Hakyeon picked up the fork, and then as he took the first bite, and when Hakyeon froze, Taekwoon's heart did a little skip in horrified anticipation. 

"I think you have spoiled my taste buds for life," Hakyeon said, once he'd swallowed. "First coffee and now pasta? I'll have to tell Wongeun I have a new favourite dinner place—I can't _wait_."

"So… you like it?" Taekwoon asked tentatively.

"Of course he does," Jaehwan called over from the kitchen counter. "I also think he's invited himself over for dinner for the foreseeable future."

"Um," both Hakyeon and Taekwoon said at the same time.

"I did?"

"You did?"

"It'll be good for both of you," Jaehwan said with a flick of his tail. "People are so _dense_ ," he added under his breath.

"You're welcome to, if you want," Taekwoon said to his dish. "I like cooking. And… Jaehwan doesn't count."

" _Rude_."

"I'd love to," Hakyeon said earnestly. "Between Punch and you, I think I'd be happy to move in, although I would miss Hongbin's cleaning obsession."

Taekwoon had forced the panic part of his mind into pause so he could ask Hakyeon to come over for dinner again, but _move in_? Taekwoon's eyes snapped up to Hakyeon, his throat apparently forgetting both how to speak and how to breathe. 

"I… meant that figuratively," Hakyeon said. 

"Looks like things just got awkward," Jaehwan said.

" _Jaehwan_!"

Taekwoon thought he'd been the one to hiss at him—it took a moment for him to register that it had, in fact, been Hakyeon who'd done the yelling. Taekwoon hadn't known that Hakyeon could even yell. Jaehwan looked actually taken aback and possibly even flinched. It had been a long while since Taekwoon had ever seen that.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper," Hakyeon said. He took a deep breath and turned back to Taekwoon. "I didn't mean to make things awkward either. Let's not waste your delicious cooking and have it turn cold."

Taekwoon nodded, not sure if he could trust his voice. He could, as always, trust food.

He didn't mind silence as he ate. If you were eating, it was hard to talk, and if you were talking, it was hard to eat. 

But that didn't mean he couldn't think—which meant he couldn't get Hakyeon saying he'd be happy to move in out of his mind. 

 

\---

 

Hakyeon had forgotten his scarf. Taekwoon had…forgotten to bring it with him two days in a row. Bringing it with him meant facing Hakyeon which meant a mess of Feelings that had been all tangled up in him since that dinner. 

"I dunno, you could just walk across the street and open the door?" Wonsik suggested.

"I can't _do_ that." Taekwoon was aware he was sounding borderline hysterical. This was all Jaehwan's fault. Jaehwan had forced the scarf onto him as they were leaving, almost strangling him with it. 

"It smells funny," Jaehwan'd said, and that had been that.

The cat was with Punch on a neighbourhood stroll—Taekwoon could do with some emotional hugging puppy licking support right now. Instead of not at all helpful and not at all cuddly Wonsik non-support.

Taekwoon was sitting behind the counter although it was better to say that he was sitting under it, his head almost scraping the bottom even though he was slouched so far down he couldn't stretch out his legs even if he wanted to. He had them folded awkwardly up, the scarf in question resting on his lap. Taekwoon buried his hands in the soft knitting—it was starting to lose that Hakyeon smell.

If he gave it back to Hakyeon, it could get back that Hakyeon smell.

And maybe it smelled a little like Taekwoon now. 

"So, uh, I should probably tell you…" Wonsik paused and looked down at Taekwoon, arms folded across his chest.

"Tell me what?" Taekwoon asked. His heart was teetering on the edge of dropping, or firing him up to send Wonsik across the room with a good flying kick to the chest.

"Jaehwan told me everything?"

"There's nothing to tell," Taekwoon said. His heart had settled on both but indecision was the bane of many a spontaneous reaction. He was going to strangle that damn cat, and Jaehwan had better hope that cats did have nine lives. 

"Like how you made dinner for Hakyeon and then agreed to go on a coffee date with him and then re-invited him over for dinner?" Wonsik asked. Taekwoon slunk further down and contemplated whether he could persuade Sanghyuk to do a reverse summoning to banish him to the shadow realm. It would be kinder. 

"No," Taekwoon said.

"No, as in—Look. Taekwoon, you're my friend, I like you a lot, and as your friend I need to tell you that this is getting ridiculous and Hongbin says Hakyeon is being just as bad."

"Why are you talking about me to Hongbin." Taekwoon was trying for flat and unimpressed but it was whinier than he would have liked.

"It was more Hongbin talking to me about Hakyeon?" Wonsik said tentatively. 

" _Why are you talking to Hongbin at all_ ," Taekwoon straight up whined.

"Because we're friends," Wonsik said. Very flat and unimpressed. It wasn't fair, that was Taekwoon's specialty. 

"But he's—"

"Not competition." Wonsik cut him off. He dropped to a crouch to get eye level with Taekwoon. Wonsik looked about as impressed as he sounded. He looked like he was tired of Taekwoon's shit—which, Taekwoon grudgingly admitted, was getting a little too much even for him.

"Hakyeon is sitting in his work room plucking flower petals chanting 'he likes me he likes me not', and anyone who doesn't think 'he' means Jung Taekwoon they are a fool."

"...Ngh." Taekwoon very seriously contemplated calling himself a fool. Here was another catch-22. He seemed to be getting caught in a lot of them lately, and it was _all Cha Hakyeon's fault_. 

"You're sulking under the counter like a three year old," Wonsik said. "Not any better. Both of you are making our lives considerably harder during one of the busiest times of the year." 

"I'm not sulking," Taekwoon immediately said.

"Uhuh. Hiding out of view clutching your crush's scarf. Looks like sulking to me."

" _He is not my crush_ ," Taekwoon hissed. He immediately covered his face with his hands and then dropped his head into his lap because that wasn't enough to hide the flush he just knew was creeping up his neck and to his ears and every other part of him. It also meant he'd just buried his face into Hakyeon's scarf. It still smelled very nice.

"It'd just really help everyone out if you walked across the street and gave that back to him," Wonsik said. "Since apparently Hakyeon doesn't want to walk across the street and ask you for it."

"Make him," Taekwoon said petulantly.

Wonsik heaved the most exasperated sigh Taekwoon had ever heard, and levered himself upright. 

"Time to call in the calvary."

 

\---

 

Taekwoon had crawled miserably to the back room which he was quickly finding to be less of a sanctuary than it had once been. He wasn't even doing work anymore. He'd slotted himself between two supply boxes and was scrolling through pictures of his nephew on his phone and definitely not staring at the bright red scarf looped around the back of the chair because that would be utterly ridiculous. So there was zero excuse he could even pretend to provide when Hongbin almost stomped in with his arms over his chest. If Wonsik was tired of Taekwoon's shit, Hongbin was tired of the entire world's shit and had no desire to hide it.

"I will drag you over there myself if I have to," Hongbin said by way of greeting. It was not a very friendly greeting.

"You can try," Taekwoon said without looking up. His nephew was very cute. Hongbin was not very cute.

Very suddenly and abruptly, there was an iron grip on his arm—Taekwoon squeaked, defences flaring, but nothing seemed to happen except Hongbin hauling Taekwoon to his feet with surprising strength. 

"Oh I won't try, I'll do it," Hongbin said through grit teeth. "Don't even bother zapping me, Hakyeon's put me through enough."

Taekwoon felt like wilting. Like a dead plant. Just wilt and wither and then Hakyeon could pluck his petals—

"That's mean," Taekwoon said.

"Yes, it's very mean," Hongbin agreed. "And it will be very rude if you do the same thing so am I going to have to drag you or do you still know how to use your feet?"

If this was the calvary, Taekwoon really didn't like it.

 

\---

 

"Merry Christmas," Hongbin said, and then shoved Taekwoon in and slammed the door shut behind him.

Hakyeon stared at Taekwoon with his mouth slightly agape—Taekwoon wanted to melt into the door.

"Hi," Taekwoon said. He held out the messy bundle of scarf. "You forgot this."

"I guess I did," Hakyeon said. He was still sitting firmly in his chair. A bowl of plucked petals sat in front of him, and he was still holding a pale yellow flower with many, many petals. Several plucked flower stems lay beside the bowl. Taekwoon tried not to think how many petals had been plucked to make that happen.

"Are you...going to come and get it?" Taekwoon asked. He realised how stupid it sounded even before the words were out of his mouth, but by then it was too late. 

Sure enough, Hakyeon arched an eyebrow and then laughed, all beautiful silver bells and every cliche possible. Taekwoon felt his heart stutter.

"You're the one standing," Hakyeon said, but he got to his feet anyway. Like a cat, Taekwoon suddenly thought. Graceful. Taekwoon froze in place—even more than he'd been frozen if that was possible—as Hakyeon walked toward him, smiling. Taekwoon's heart skipped a beat and it might as well have just given up because it was truly, utterly unfair how pretty that smile was. Debilitatingly pretty. Just like the rest of Hakyeon. Who was standing very close to him. Never mind his heart, Taekwoon felt like giving up and finally melting into a pile of pink goo right here in Hakyeon's very cute and chic store.

Taekwoon shoved the scarf into Hakyeon's chest, and without another word, he fled.

To a very full store. Not full of customers. Just full of… a talking cat, a demonic dog, and an awkwardly going through puberty teenager who was going to end up very tall.

Taekwoon had been wrong. It wasn't that he didn't like the calvary. He _hated_ it.

Wonsik shrugged. "Drastic circumstances," he said. 

_This goes beyond drastic measures_ , Taekwoon thought hissed to Wonsik, but telepathy was only a thing in video games and comics. Jaehwan didn't count. The rules of reality simply didn't apply to _talking cats_. Taekwoon made sure to think the last bit very loudly in Jaehwan's direction. He'd pick it up.

"Don't look at me, I was coming anyway," Sanghyuk said with an easy shrug. He had his school bag slung over a shoulder, and was the picture of boyish mischief, the worst kind. 

Punch seemed to laugh snort. Sanghyuk gave the hellhound the most wounded look possible.

"Okay _fine_ , Jaehwan said I didn't want to miss the entertainment of the century, alright?"

"Might want to keep that to yourself," Wonsik muttered quietly. 

"It's not like I'm wrong," Jaehwan said. He was on his favourite usual perch on Punch's back and looking extremely smug. "Taekwoon is the least adult adult and is horrible at feelings, so this is gonna be great."

"I am right here," Taekwoon glowered.

"So?"

Taekwoon was going to strangle that damn cat.

"Oh, look who's here!" Jaehwan suddenly jumped off of Punch, the dog not even blinking. A burst of cold air flooded through the shop as the door swung open, because Jaehwan had wrenched the heat-shield magic aside along with the door. Even Wonsik looked a little annoyed. On the other side of the entrance, Hakyeon looked a little stunned—understandable, because all five pairs of eyes were fixed unerringly on him and Jaehwan had rended space-time more or less right in front of him.

"Am I crashing a party?" Hakyeon asked mildly.

"Nope, you're the guest of honour," Sanghyuk chirped. 

Taekwoon started inching towards the back door and looking resolutely anywhere but Hakyeon. Especially since he'd just very literally ran from him. Wonsik went the mundane route of physically standing in Taekwoon's way and pulling out his best intimidating bouncer pose. 

Every single person in Taekwoon's life was a cowardly traitor.

"I'm just here for the popcorn," Hongbin said. He'd trailed Hakyeon across the street after slapping a 'back in 15' scrawled in blue marker on the door. "I've done my part."

"Save me," he hissed to Wonsik. He gave him his best puppy eyes and could see Wonsik wavering, but his friend was undeterred. 

"I am saving you from yourself," Wonsik said seriously. "Now get out there and face your destiny."

"Believe in the me that believes in you," Sanghyuk added helpfully behind him. 

"Which is not at all," Jaehwan said.

"Guys _that is not helping_." Wonsik glared at them over Taekwoon's shoulder.

Taekwoon was quickly reailising that he had no choice. There was no exit. He could not flee or escape short of physically shoving Hakyeon aside and escaping past a Hongbin who'd already shown no qualms over physically assaulting Taekwoon. 

With the sort of resignation he imagined his ancestors had once felt when they'd faced a burning pyre, Taekwoon turned around. The tableau was as bad as he'd feared—the only comfort was that Hongbin had not brought literal popcorn. Hakyeon looked more awkward and out of place than Taekwoon had ever seen him, like he'd be shifting from foot to foot if he was the kind of person who did that.

But then Hakyeon smiled, and Taekwoon was simultaneously comforted and reassured and dissolving into blushing goo. 

"You ran away," Hakyeon said.

Taekwoon shook his head, not trusting his words. 

"No, you did!" Hakyeon's words were dangerously close to a very cute whine. "And I had something for you too!"

"You do?" Taekwoon blurted out.

"Yup," Hakyeon said, and Taekwoon suddenly registered that the scarf Hakyeon was holding was not _his_ scarf. At least not the scarf that Taekwoon had just given Hakyeon. It was almost the same—the same simple knit pattern but in a deep royal blue.

"I wanted to wrap it up nicely but this will have to do," Hakyeon said. He took a step forward, and then another step, and then he was very suddenly right in front of Taekwoon and Taekwoon was struck with a sudden sense of deja vu as Hakyeon looped it about Taekwoon's neck. 

"There. I think it suits you," Hakyeon said. He was still very close, and Taekwoon could see the light reflecting in Hakyeon's warm brown eyes. At this distance, it was obvious that Hakyeon was just a tiny bit shorter than him. The scarf was very warm, a little too warm, but it wasn't so bad, especially since the cold bitterness of winter still lingered from when Jaehwan had very violently let it in.

"You got me a scarf?" Taekwoon asked.

"He _made_ you a scarf," Hongbin said—Hakyeon closed his mouth.

"I may have," Hakyeon admitted. "It didn't take very long."

Hongbin muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously similar to _liar_. Hakyeon's mouth twitched, but he ignored it.

"Thank you," Taekwoon said, into the warm, knit fabric and staring down at something—his gaze lingered on Hakyeon's hands. The sudden image of Hakyeon holding knitting needles with a ball of yarn beside him flitted through Taekwoon's mind, and there was an odd burst of warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with how warm the scarf was.

"I charmed it a little so it will stay warmer," Hakyeon said. He was smiling when Taekwoon finally looked back up at him, although it wasn't that bright blinding literal sun smile, and was more of a gentle snowflakes or meadow of pink flowers smile. 

Taekwoon was sure he could spend eternity bathing in that smile.

Sanghyuk had different ideas. "This isn't the entertainment I was promised," he complained.

"It's like a disgustingly sweet romcom," Hongbin added.

"Will you two _shut up_ ," Hakyeon snapped, whirling about. 

"Nope," Jaehwan chimed. "Oh look. Mistletoe."

Taekwoon looked up—the silky white berries were nestled very comfortably in their green leaves. He was very sure they hadn't been there seconds before. Sanghyuk, when Taekwoon tore his eyes away, was smiling very smugly. He was very clearly culpable.

"Mistletoe," Hakyeon echoed. 

Hakyeon was still distressingly close. Close enough that if— _if_ —for some hare brained reason Taekwoon wanted to, he wouldn't even need to step forward to—

"May I?" Hakyeon's hand was suddenly on Taekwoon's shoulder.

For some hare brained reason, Taekwoon nodded. Just once.

It was a gentle kiss, a soft kiss, a sweet kiss. It was Hakyeon's hand on Taekwoon's shoulder and Taekwoon's hand on Hakyeon's waist, and he didn't know what lip balm Hakyeon used but it was very pleasant and nice. 

It lasted a second, maybe two, and then Hakyeon had stepped back and Taekwoon had dropped his hand as if burnt.

"Ugh I did not need to see that," Hongbin said. Taekwoon dropped to the floor, covering his flaming red face.

"Seriously, get a room you two," Sanghyuk said, as if he hadn't been the one to instigate it in the first place. 

"Yeah, seriously go get a fucking room," Jaehwan echoed. He paused, and then cackled. From a cat, it was horrifyingly ominous. "A _fucking_ room."

"Please stop," Wonsik said.

"Not in our apartment please," Jaehwan said as if Wonsik hadn't said a word. Punch had gone back to sleep, uninterested in human drama. It was a little harder to ignore cat claws flexing against his head and he whined. "We have a _child_."

"You're using a _hellhound_ as an excuse to why I should get sexiled?" Hongbin asked, and then immediately looked disgusted that he'd just had to use the word 'sexiled'.

"I would remind you that we are both right here," Hakyeon said, spinning around to glare at Hongbin again. "And I never want to hear you say 'sexiled' again, Lee Hongbin."

"Great. Same. Glad we agree," Hongbin said.

"Wait, so that's it? You got over your feelings, you kissed, Merry Christmas, The End?" Sanghyuk was clearly disappointed. "I trekked all the way here just for this?"

With a burst of determination and misplaced bravado, Taekwoon forced himself to his feet. He refused to look at anything other than Hakyeon as he tugged at Hakyeon's sleeve. Hakyeon turned even faster than he'd turned away, and to Taekwoon's surprise, there was a dusting of pink on Hakyeon's cheeks.

Taekwoon didn't say a word. He stepped forward, pulled Hakyeon to him, and kissed him like he meant it. The best part was that Hakyeon kissed him back, and it was more magical than anything Taekwoon had ever known.

Merry Christmas, The End, and one that Sanghyuk had missed. Happily Ever After.

Because this, apparently, was what magic was actually good for.

Illusionary mistletoe.

They'd take it.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you @wordsprints squad for the writing motivation!! and punch is a baby [smt-brand cerberus](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/e/ee/Smtcerby.png) puppy! (altho a 3 headed one would've been cute....3 good puppers to pet in 1...)    
>  as always, you can find me [enpleurs@cc](https://curiouscat.me/enpleurs)


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